Defense Force Management

Since World War II, U.S. military policy has banned gays and lesbians from serving in the armed forces. The Defense Department (DOD) expelled an average of 1,500 men and women each year during the 1980s because of allegations of homosexuality. Most of those expelled were enlisted personnel, typically white males; such discharges have been routinely upheld by the military and the courts. The recruiting and training costs associated with replacing discharged homosexuals are estimated at about $28,000 for enlisted personnel and more than $120,000 for each officer. In considering the total costs for these discharges, however, additional factors like out-processing and court costs should be included. Information on the costs of investigating homosexuality in the military are unavailable, although during a five-year period, DOD did more than 3,600 investigations. Most leading psychiatric and psychological groups in the United States view DOD's policy as factually unsupported, unfair, and counterproductive. Further, two of DOD's own studies have refuted the military's position that homosexuals are potential security risks and have raised questions about the basic policy. The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have likewise acknowledged that homosexuality is no longer a major security concern. Further, the public has become more accepting of gays serving in the military, some U.S. allies have policies allowing homosexuals in the military, and employment barriers to gays have been removed at police and fire departments in major U.S. cities without affecting their basic missions. The supplement provides statistics and details on the characteristics of individuals discharged for homosexuality, discharge rates for gays and lesbians in the various services, and cases investigated by DOD's criminal investigative agencies.

GAO found that: (1) between 1980 and 1990, DOD discharged about 17,000 service members under the separation category of homosexuality; (2) most of those discharged for homosexuality were white male enlisted personnel; (3) some groups were consistently discharged for homosexuality at a rate higher than their representation in the total active force or individual service; (4) the Navy accounted for 51 percent of the discharges; (5) in fiscal year 1990, the estimated cost of replacing personnel discharged for homosexuality was about $28,000 for each enlisted person and about $121,000 for each officer; (6) the services' investigative agencies could not provide specific information on the costs of investigations of alleged cases of homosexuality; (7) DOD and the services have conducted two major studies on the subject of whether homosexuals pose a heightened security risk, and both studies concluded that they did not; (8) a number of medical organizations disagree with the DOD policy of excluding homosexuals from service; (9) public attitudes about homosexuality appear to be changing, with more Americans favoring the inclusion of homosexuals in the armed forces; (10) many police and fire departments have adopted policies prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; and (11) 4 of the 17 countries GAO examined have policies designed to exclude homosexuals from military service, but some of the remaining countries have policies requiring separation if an individual's behavior is found to be disruptive.